Box-car-unloading plow and process of unloading cars.



A. WALLACE.

BOX CAR UNLOADlNG PLOW AND PROCESS OF UNLOADING CARS.

APPLICKTION FILED JUNE 3. 1914.

Patented. Oct. 10,1916.

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BOX CAR UNLOADING PLOW AND PROCESS OF UNLOADING CARS.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3,1914.

1 531 95. Patented 001;.10,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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A. WALLACE.

BOX CAR UNLOADING PLQW AND PROCESS OF UNLOADING CARS.

APPLICATiON HLED LUNE 3. I914.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- UNITED S ATES PATEnT OFFICE. 1.

ANDREW WALLACE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BOX-CAR-UNLQADING PLOW Ann raoonss or UNLOADING ones.-

Application filed June 3,

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that 1', ANDREW WVALLAQE, a

I citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of -Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Box-Car-Unloading Plows and Processes of Unloading Cars, of

necessary in order to cause the material to flow freely to tilt the car through anan'gle of more than in a longitudinal plane and any considerable excess over 30 results in permitting the coal to flow past thedoor while it is necessary to. insure any coal being dischargedsidewise through the door. In order therefore to permit the discharge of a maximum .amount of coal or 'ore with a minimum tilting ex-.

cursion I propose to provide a .plow which may be inserted transversely into and through the box car door so that when the car is tilted the plow will act as a guide or chute to deflect and feed the material and prevent its backing up and running down into the .lower end of the car.

My invention therefore relates to a box car unloader of the tilting type and process of unloading cars and is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in one form in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation with parts in section of a boxcar unloaderv Fig. 2 is .an end elevation. Fig. 3 is a plan view in. part section with a box car unloader. -Fig. 4 is a plan view of the plow itself. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5&5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 bf- Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 4, and Fig. 8 is a section on the line '88 of Fig' 5 Like 'parts are indicated by like letters throughout the several figures:

. 1 is a box car having doors 2, 3, supported on wheels 4 which rest on the track 5 on a cradle 6. This cradle is, located in a pit 7. 8 are stops mounted on the cradle and enga ing the ends of'the car to prevent longi-. tu The. cradle inal movement of the car. is pivoted upon the shaft 9, and free to ro- Specificatio'n of Letters Patent.

1914. Serial N0.842,640.

a Patented 005.10, 1916.

'tate thereon in a plane of the'longitudin al' axis of the car.

l0 is a fixed collecting hopperor chute d1scharging througha passage 11.

12, 13 are aprons pivoted on' -the lower sides of the cradle 6 and slidable along the opposed side of the hopper 10, being kept in 1 fixed relation thereto by rollers 14, so asto guide the material discharged from the car into the hopper. I

15 is the hydraulic cylinder having-a plunger 16 connected by means of a connecting rod 17 with thecradle 6 whereby thelcradle may be rocked or rotatedto tilt the car.

20 is a plow frame rigidly attached to the cradle 6.

21 is a controlling,.icylinder mounted on n this plunger is mounted a plowback or stop.

1 1 24, 25 are right and lefthan d plows rest mg normally on the platform 26 on the plow I frame 20. Each of these plows is adapted to be separately attached to the plowback or stop 23 by any suitable means, as for instance, the bolts 25*, as shown. The platform 26 and the cylinder 21. are all mountgd on the frame 27 which frame is free to moye in a direction parallel with the axis of the box car, so as to permit either plow' to be used at the will of the operator. plows are identical and a description of one will thereforesufiice for both. The action of the plow is very similar to the action of the ordinary type of agricultural plow. In other words wherein plowing afield the ma- The' two" terial is at restand the plow is forced into and toward it penetrating first; underneath the ground and as the ground is guided up along the curved surface turningjt over; in this case the plow is at rest and the material is fed to it. This -Inate'r-ial .ridesfup along the gradually curving plow surface, and is finally turned over and discharged, its direction of-movement having been meanwhile varied through an anglelof i Figs. 4 to 8 show very clearly the shape and dimensions of the plow.. 30 is a reinforcing'plate adapted to be attached tofthe part 23. The plow itself is madeup of two intersecting curved surfaces which intersect. along a dividingdine parallel with and located in the vertical axial plane of the car; so that material is deflected out of both doors narrow width at. a 7) where the discharge that point sition.

it flows down the along the dotted takes place. The coal as car approaches the plow line rides up on the plow being gradually deflected and turned over by the curved surface and finally discharged, as indicated by the arrow. The width of the plow to b is s ibstantially equal to the width of the doorand 'while as the material discharges a certain relative small amount flows out along the length of the door: experience shows that substantially all the material is as above suggested discharged between the points 0 a, and if the flow of material at is by any means arrested material will instantly cease flowing at all other points and no further discharge will take place until the flow again commences at a, b.

I have-illustrated this device in a more or less rough and general manner, and have not gone exhaustivelyinto the details of construction, particularly those features other than my plow itself, and the controlling means therefor. It will of course, however, be obvious that many changes might be made and modifications introduced without departing in any material way from the spirit of my invention. I wish therefore that my drawings be regarded in a sense diagrammatic.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows: The box car is first moved into position on the tilting cradle and locked there by any suitable means shown. Any ordinary means which will raise the car will be used and such means are, of course, common. .Either one of the plows is then attached to the ram and the cradle carrying ram and plow movedin the appropriate po- The ram is then operated to force the cradle intothe box car. The cradle is then rocked or rotated to tilt the car into the position shown in dotted lines. The material runs down impinges upon the plow and is discharged on both sides or if it is desiredlto have the discharge on one side the one door will be closed. As shown the material runs along the curved surface of the plow and gradually makes the turn so that it is discharged at right angles to the plow.

The shape of the plow is important. It must be curved as indicated so that when in operation a comparatively narrow stream of from a at high speed, at a and even then the flow .is

car is emptied, the cradle is rocked, the car returned to its normal position and the plow l withdrawn, the other plow connected. form then is moved peated. It is obvious, however, that but one plow might be used for the plow could be easily turned. around after one end is emptied and used for the other end. This can be done because the plows are exactly symmetrical. I prefer, plows because of the saving of time and the greater ease with which the. plow may be attached to the beam without turning.

It will be understood that the curved surfaces of the plow are substantially bowl shaped, that is to say, they may be likened to segmental surfaces cut from a bowl, and they tend to form a. bank or guide for the material and to turn it or deflect it from one direction to another just as the bankon a track does, that is to say, as the coal comes down the incline, it rides up on the bowl surface, and is gradually turned or deflected into the chute or channel surface. and is discharged at right angles from its previous .path.

It will be noted that as my process is carried out, it operates when the car is tilted, to compensate the stream of slowly moving material, moving parallel with the axis of the car, by deflecting it about a gradually curved path into a thin close contracted rapidly moving stream substantially at right angles to the axis of the car. Of course this stream may not in total, including every particle, be at right angles to the car, but generally speaking its mass is traveling, when the operation is going on,

line substantially perpendicular to the car.

I claim:

1. The process of unloading cars which consists in first tilting the car about an axis perpendicular to the axial line of the car,

and then guiding the material ,in the car.

disconnected from the ram and however, to use twd The ram platand the process're-- 2. The Combination with a boxcar having open side doors, of means for tilting the car, and means comprising-a plow for guiding'the material in the car along a gradually curved path and discharging it from the car along a line substantially perpendicular to the axis of the car.

' The process of unloading cars which consists in first tilting the car about an axis perpendicular to the axial line thereof until the inclination of the car floor is greater than the angle of rest of the materialt ere-- on, and then deflecting the material as it travelsdown the inclined floor under the influence of gravity from a path parallel with the axis of the car along agradualrcurve to a path perpendicular to the-axis'of the car.

consists in first tilting the car about an axis perpendicular to the axial line thereof until the inclination of the car floor is greater than the angle of rest of the material thereon and then deflecting the material as it stantially at right travels down the inclined floor under-the infiuence ofgravity from its path of parallelism with the axis of the car into a path sub angles to the axis of'the car, and concentrating the stream of matesluggish stream moving within the car,

rialthus deflected into a compact high speed stream, smaller in cross section than the and traveling along a line substantially at right angles to the axis of the car.

5. The process of unloading cars which consists in first tilting them about an axis perpendicular to the axial line thereof until I the inclination of the car floor is greatgr than the angle of rest of the material thereon, and then deflecting the stream of material traveling downward along the car floor, guiding it into a path gradually approaching perpendicnlarity to the axis of the car, andincreasing the velocity and decreasing the cross section of such stream.

6. The process of unloading cars which consists in first tilting the car about an axial perpendicular to the axial line thereof until a the inclination of the car floor is greater at. The process of unloading cars which than the angle of rest of the material thereon, and then guiding the material to-. ward the center of the car upwardly above the floor thereof, splitting the stream of material and deflecting the two streams thus,

formed gradually in opposite directions into paths substantially perpendicular to the axis of the car and discharging such streams from the car. a i

7. The, process of unloading cars which consists in first-ti l-ting the car about an axis perpendicular to the axial line thereof path which terminates in a discharge at- SLThe process of unloading cars which consists in first tilting the car about an axis perpendicular to the axial line thereof until the inclination of the car floor is greater than the angle of rest of the material theresubstantially. right angles to the axis of the car.

on, and then deflecting the material as it reachesa line adjoining the upper sides ofthe two car doors and gradually curving it about a substantially circular. path and discharging from the car at right angles to the axis of the can r 9. The combination with a box car hav- I ing open side doors of means-for tilting the car and means for guiding and concentrating the material in the Car as it moves downwardly along the axis of the car into a concentrated thin rapidly moving stream and discharging such stream at right angles to the axis of the car.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses this'25th dayv of May 1914.,

p a ANDREW WALLACE.

Witnesses:

LAUREL M. Donna/ms, BEssIE S. RICE. 

